During the education movement forum, the Minister of Education, Professor Birhanu Nega, stated that studies indicate that over 7.8 million children are out of school nationwide due to conflicts, as well as man-made and natural disasters.
He specifically mentioned that the conflict in the Amhara region alone has caused more than 4 million children to be out of school.
The Minister stated that education is a fundamental right of children, adding that the conflict in some parts of the country is dimming the hope of the generation connecting with their future opportunities.
Therefore, he emphasized that the loss that conflict is causing to the development of the generation must be jointly prevented.
The Minister noted that a program to improve education infrastructure is being intensively implemented nationwide. He added that despite the challenge posed by the conflict, significant work has been done to improve numerous schools in the Amhara region as well.
He announced that 17 schools will be built in the region this year under the education infrastructure improvement program.
The Chief Administrator of the Amhara region, Arega Kebede, on his part, expressed his concern about the serious impact of the conflict on the education sector and the development of the generation. He stated that restoring the sector to its previous state requires the concerted effort and active participation of the education community, parents, the leadership, and the society at large.
It is expected that the movement forum will involve discussions on the damage caused to the education sector and the setting of future directions.
